New amp or new cd player?


With which will i see a bigger improvement in my sound. I have a Mcintosh MA6450 integrated, Gallo 3.1 speakers, and an onkyo dv-sp404 dvd/cd player. Monster interconnects, and transparent music wave speaker cable.

Obviously my weakest link is the onkyo dvd player as a cd player. I was thinking about upgrading it to a naim cd 5i or classe cdp-102. However, I also know that my amp could be more powerful as it is 100wpc into 4ohms, but only 50/75? wpc in to my 8ohm gallo 3.1's.

My question is.. with which change will i see a greater improvemt? In my currently living sitatuon, the mcintosh easily powers my speakers louder than i can play them for an extended amount of time, but will more power equate to more bass? I was thinking about the Classe cap-2100, but will this result in more bass, and better imaging/soundstage/etc, or simply the ability to play louder, which i dont really need.

As for the cd player, I have a hard time believing a cd player can make THAT big of a difference (I am new to this high end audio stuff), although I know they must because all I have read on here and other places around the internet. Although I have also read that a decent cdp used as a transport, and a dac such as the bel canto dac 2, sound nearly as good as some of the very good cd players out there.

So.. long story short.. would i see a bigger improvement if i keep the onkyo as my cdp, and upgrade the amp, or if i keep the mac 6450 and upgrade the cdp?

James
farjamed
If I were you, as you said I would go for a CD player - you might also consider TRL modified sony SCD-CE595. It received many great reviews like this one - http://6moons.com/audioreviews/trl/595.html

Yes the source does make a difference !

Some people think that's the most improtant part - others think the speakers are the most important, but you already have pretty good ones, so I would change the source first.



I'm a big fan of moving to a new DAC which will get more out of your Onkyo as well as leaving future flexibility to move to either a better transport or a computer/server based approach. Personally, I love the Audio Note DACs though they can be a bit pricey. There are many sub $1K DACs that would give a dramatic boost to your current source.
will more power equate to more bass?

No. Although, of course, the amp can certainly influence how accurately the bass is reproduced. But assuming that the amps being compared have similar sonic character when driving the particular speaker that is being used, the benefit of more power is simply to raise the volume level at which clipping occurs. Clipping meaning severe distortion caused by the amplifier not having enough power to handle volume peaks.

You'll find this thread of interest:

http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?aamps&1232537417

Regards,
-- Al